“Not only is the Floyd County School government breaching the charter agreement by violating the people of Floyd County’s right to local self-governance by excluding parents, principals, and community leaders who make up the Local Governance Councils in their decision to RIF, but now the local government is depriving Floyd County educators of their constitutional and civil rights. The government is prohibited from depriving life, liberty or property without due process of law, but is now doing exactly that by attacking Floyd County educators right to a fair hearing that is required under the charter agreement, Floyd County Board of Education policy, Georgia state law, and the Constitution.

They are denying Ms. Day the right to obtain the Georgia open records act requests prior to her fair dismissal hearing and are failing to provide both the evidence to be used against her and the blank subpoenas that she is legally entitled to under both Georgia law (the Fair Dismissal Act) and the Constitution. We are asking the Court to order that the local government stop infringing on the constitutional rights of Floyd County educators and comply with Georgia law by ordering them to produce the Open Records Requests, other evidence, and blank subpoenas that she and other Floyd County educators are legally entitled to obtain prior to their due process hearing.”

Most troubling, the Superintendent and Board through their attorney is now stating that it does not believe it is required to comply with the Fair Dismissal Act if it doesn’t want to, that it can take away tenured educators right to a fair dismissal. This was not the intent of the charter. This was not the intent of the former Superintendent Plunkett, who sought to insure the rights of Floyd County educators were protected.

Under Georgia law and the Board of Education policy, educators are entitled to have a fair dismissal hearing, regardless of whether the district is a charter system or not. The Floyd County community is urged to contact their local school board of education member and demand that they comply with the Georgia Fair Dismissal Act and do not seek to erode the constitutional rights of Floyd County educators to due process by denying them their right to a fair dismissal hearing..

Said Ms. Oinonen: “Just because there is a charter system in place, doesn’t mean that the local government doesn’t have to follow the Constitution.”